How To Survive A Traditional Wedding Without A Planner

Wedding planners are invaluable assets to any wedding. However, not everyone can afford to hire a planner and that’s where I come in. To help you put together the wedding of your dreams even on a tight budget. I’m not proclaiming myself to be the guru of wedding planning but having worked as a wedding planner I know a thing or two about what makes a traditional wedding come together.

I was having a conversation with my mom about her day, some thirty odd years ago (have you worked out my age yet? (lol) The one thing she kept saying was that things were very simple back then. She said she didn’t feel the need to prove a point to anyone by having a lavish wedding. She continued to say the wedding was not something she worried about because she knew they’d be married at the end of the day. She worried about being the centre of attention on the day and the marriage itself. Whether, she would be a good wife to her new husband.

Most of our parents did it on the tightest of budgets. If they can do it surely we can too. I’m not bashing planners at all. They do an incredible job. They are most valuable especially if the idea of getting married never crossed your mind and you find yourself engaged. However, you can do it all yourself. To prove my point look at these weddings, click here and here. The brides did it all themselves with the help of their family members and prove that you can too.

Tips On How To Survive A Traditional Wedding Without A Planner

Spindle Photography

Set A Budget And Stick To It
Any planner will tell you the importance of setting a budget. It restricts you from trying to reach out to suppliers that are above your budget. It also gives you clear focus.

Keep Track Of Everything
You’ll need to keep a journal, diary or spreadsheet to jot down projects that need to be done and to tick off as you go along.

Time
Time is your greatest asset. I know there’s isn’t enough hours in a day when planning a wedding, especially when you have a full-time job. Allocate time each for your traditional wedding. Use your weekends to brainstorm. Pinterest and Instagram will be the best places to start. But be careful not to be lured in by all the gorgeous images, some of them are unrealistic without a professional.

Ask For and Accept Help
People love weddings. So don’t be afraid to ask your family, friends and neighbours for help. I’ve never met neighbours who refused to help each other unless if they’re nightmare neighbours.

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Decide On Your Wedding Style
Ok, so you’ve decided to have a purely traditional wedding. You’ll need to first decide on your wedding dress. Once the dress is sorted you can plan the wedding drawing inspiration from it. You can choose colours, décor items, marquee and everything else based on your preferences.

Keep Things Simple
Without an experienced planner at hand, things can get a little tricky. Over complicating things will not only be time-consuming, it’ll cost you too. Keep things as minimal as possible.

Delegate
Give your bridesmaids and groomsmen tasks to do. Don’t just assume they’ll know what you want or what’s expect of them.

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Research
Finding suppliers and creative’ is no easy task. Luckily Google is here to help. I find word of mouth to be the best kind of referral because the referrer has actually had an experience or maybe saw examples of that particular supplier’s work.

Venue
Now this post is for couples having their traditional weddings at home. However, if you’re having your traditional wedding at a venue, make sure they cater for traditional weddings. By that I mean the type of food they serve, the décor and suppliers. Do they expect you to use their preferred suppliers or can you bring your own? Do they have a cut off time and if so will they give at least an hour of grace time before charging for extra time? Will you have venue staff at hand to help if needed? Is there a venue coordinator?

I hope this post has been helpful to you. Please share and add your comments, questions and suggestions in the box below.

Ika

Hi Mokgadi, Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Please look around the site for advice, ideas and tips. I normally post new wedding related articles on Mondays and Fridays so please do visit regularly. Good Luck!

I agree with all these points! I planned and executed my traditional wedding last month without a planner, and at a few points along the way – I thought that it would be so much easier if I had a planner. But I delegated to friends and family – which helped a lot. I also had a wedding notebook and kept track of costs on an Excel spreadsheet. It’s a lot of work, but it can be done.